Crime and Punishment: Part III, Chapter One
In this chapter, as you may recall from the previous chapter, Pulcheria Alexandrovna and Dunya remain "grief-stricken" because of Raskolnikov's recent condition, which was: he was unconscious due to the fainting spell, which was due to the recent conversation and the remarks made by the doctor. However, Raskolnikov becomes angry with the two of them and orders them out of his room; he also commands Dunya to break off her engagement (with whom?). Later, Razumikhin had made a promise to abandon his housewarming party and remain with his best friend, in his room, due to his "condition." As he is already there with both Pulcheria and Dunya, he tries to convince both of them to leave Raskolnikov alone and then offers to bring the doctor, Zossimov to look after him, while he remains in the condition he is in.
Initially, due to the intensity in which he tries to convince both of the girls to leave his best friend alone, he frightens both Dunya and Pulcheria; but then it is learned that Razumikhin is somewhat (strongly, actually) attracted to Dunya and he makes a rather drunken declaration of his loyalty towards her and also tells Dunya that Luzhin is totally "wrong" for her and that she should immediately break off the engagement, repeating what Raskolnikov recently requested that she do. Later, the mother and her daughter, Pulcheria and Dunya return to their own abode.
For emphasis (recall in your reading) that the narrator emphasizes the attraction that Razumikhin has for Dunya and that he wants nothing more than for her to (now) break off the engagement, totally. He explains (again, through the narration) that Dunya is extremely attractive, self-confident, strong, and tender.
After checking up on Raskolnikov, Razumikhin re-visits Dunya and Pulcheria, first by himself, then accompanied by the doctor, Zossimov, who later calms their fears about Raskolnikov and believes that he is merely suffering from some sort of "obsession." However, outside the apartment, Razumikhin becomes violently jealous when the doctor compliments Dunya; Razumikhin, in an effort to steer the doctor's attention away from Dunya, attempts to "fix" him up with the landlady, rather than him continue with his plight towards Dunya.
Question: Why is the doctor suddenly interested in Dunya? Is there a specific reason?
Attention: To date, I have completed the summaries for all of Parts I and II, and have started on Part III. Because of my schedule, I am going to take a short break from doing this. I am hoping that someone else from the group might be able to complete the summaries for Part III. If not, then I will continue with them in a day or two (or perhaps a week, depending on my schedule). This might actually help some, as I do not know where everyone is with respect to the novel.
Attention: Perhaps, when we complete this novel, we can either start to read and discuss "Demons" (which was recently started by two of us on this forum already), or we can read and discuss "Brothers Karamazov." "Demons" is an extremely interesting and "twisting" novel. There are several other names for the novel, such as "The Possessed."
